What's the difference between comedy and farce?

Comedy


Definition:

  • (n.) A dramatic composition, or representation of a bright and amusing character, based upon the foibles of individuals, the manners of society, or the ludicrous events or accidents of life; a play in which mirth predominates and the termination of the plot is happy; -- opposed to tragedy.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) A philosophy student at Sussex University, he was part of an improvised comedy sketch group and one skit required him to beatbox (making complex drum noises with your mouth).
  • (2) Corden, a big star in the UK since he made his name with BBC comedy Gavin and Stacey but still a relative unknown in the US, will succeed Craig Ferguson who will step down from the show after a decade.
  • (3) Gola, who gave his first stand-up turn in 2001, has watched comedy in South Africa go mainstream.
  • (4) In a recent episode of the BBC Radio 4 comedy Alun Cochrane's Fun House , Cochrane joked of how he sleeps better in the living room.
  • (5) Days and Nights in the Forest , which began as a comedy about Calcuttan gents on safari for aboriginal villagers, before shading into something almost too dark for my comprehension.
  • (6) Comic writing can be a brutal, unforgiving business, yet it can produce great and multi-layered prose, combining comedy, pathos and satire.
  • (7) Castin' makes me feel good: Ghostbusters' diverse team is a victory Read more Dan Aykroyd heralds Ghostbusters cast as 'most magnificent women in comedy' Read more “There’s three drafts of the old concept that exists,” said Aykroyd.
  • (8) The first UK comedy show I ever performed was a total mess.
  • (9) I think the heart of good comedy really lives in truth and reacting to the absurdities, hypocrisies, abuses of power in the world.” Late night television is a no longer a glass of warm milk before bed, it’s a lunch buffet And as TV viewership declines and internet virality becomes as important as real-time eyeballs, cable networks might find that topical comedy is a smart, cost-effective way to grab cross-platform attention.
  • (10) Despite his insistence that comedy should be colour-blind, Amos admits black audiences prefer the black circuit, where "you know the material isn't going to be racist or make you feel awkward, where you feel like you belong".
  • (11) That's in 1888; by 1890 the tone is of comic resignation (there is much comedy in these pages) as Edmond realises that he has devoted the whole of his life "to a special sort of literature: the sort that brings one trouble".
  • (12) He's broken limbs, nearly lost fingers and contracted a potentially deadly bone-marrow infection, as well as performing a string of excellent comedy shows retelling his exploits.
  • (13) Charlize Theron is set to star opposite Seth MacFarlane in the Ted creator's new comedy western A Million Ways to Die in the West, tipped as a homage to Mel Brooks's classic movie Blazing Saddles .
  • (14) The series is widely regarded as the first British sitcom, focusing on characters and situations over a single half-hour sketch, rather than stand-up comedy or variety which was then dominant in British radio.
  • (15) "I was at a comedy club trying to do my act, and I got heckled and I took it badly and went into a rage," Richards said.
  • (16) Fines’ best actor nod fell in the comedy movie category, which he shared with Michael Keaton in Birdman, Bill Murray in St. Vincent, Joaquin Phoenix in Inherent Vice and Christoph Waltz in Big Eyes.
  • (17) His first film appearances had included Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Small Back Room, and the comedy Dear Mr Prohack (both 1949), the latter adapted from an Arnold Bennett novel.
  • (18) Between festivals, Hardee played cameo roles in TV comedies such as Blackadder and The Comic Strip, and ran his own comedy club, the Tunnel, which he had opened at the southern end of the Blackwall Tunnel in 1984; it acquired a fearsome reputation as a graveyard for aspiring standups.
  • (19) Archer, which Reed originally pitched to the FX channel as "James Bond meets Arrested Development" takes this premise – the comedy of displacement activity – and runs with it.
  • (20) 23 May More films to see in 2014 • 2014 preview: thrillers • 2014 preview: comedy • 2014 preview: Oscar hopefuls • 2014 preview: science fiction • 2014 preview: romance • 2014 preview: drama • This article was amended on Thursday 2 January 2014.

Farce


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To stuff with forcemeat; hence, to fill with mingled ingredients; to fill full; to stuff.
  • (v. t.) To render fat.
  • (v. t.) To swell out; to render pompous.
  • (v. t.) Stuffing, or mixture of viands, like that used on dressing a fowl; forcemeat.
  • (v. t.) A low style of comedy; a dramatic composition marked by low humor, generally written with little regard to regularity or method, and abounding with ludicrous incidents and expressions.
  • (v. t.) Ridiculous or empty show; as, a mere farce.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Martin O’Neill spoke of his satisfaction at the Republic of Ireland’s score draw in the first leg of their Euro 2016 play-off against Bosnia-Herzegovina – and of his relief that the match was not abandoned despite the dense fog that descended in the second half and threatened to turn the game into a farce.
  • (2) China greeted the announcement of Liu Xiaobo’s win with fury: a foreign ministry spokeswoman, Jiang Yu, attacked the event as a “political farce”.
  • (3) President Juan Manuel Santos said he valued the gesture from the Farc, but warned it was not enough.
  • (4) It would be a farce if we failed to reach agreement because of the process," he said.
  • (5) What we are seeing is the government really squabbling over what is such an important and profound piece of legislation for our country, like kids in a schoolyard.” Shorten told reporters on Sunday the government’s citizenship laws were “rapidly descending into a farce”, and called on it to urgently release the text of the legislation so Labor could scrutinise it.
  • (6) Sometimes the public’s legitimate fears are exposed: in Colombia there’s no doubt the public felt uneasy about forgiving Farc for its bloody violence.
  • (7) Well it is such ages since the last emergency Farc meeting that nobody can agree what Farc stands for?
  • (8) The Farc negotiators reiterated their insistence that the rebel leader Simon Trinidad, who is serving a 60-year sentence in a US prison after being convicted of kidnapping three Americans, be allowed to participate as a negotiator.
  • (9) "It's encouraging because we always thought the whole thing would be a farce but we didn't realise it would be this bad for them and they wouldn't be able to get anywhere near the numbers," he said.
  • (10) But he said the near farce of Romney's trip will reinforce doubts in the minds of some voters about his fitness for the presidency.
  • (11) The opposition leader, Delia Lawrie, said the matter was “descending into farce” and called for the government to “at least” enact an independent judicial inquiry.
  • (12) After this disgraceful farce of wrongful blame (the spokespeople for the police and the NHS happy to tolerate, if not encourage, the misleading targeting of the social workers), the right questions are still being ignored.
  • (13) Farc negotiators used the meeting to rail against Colombia's neo-liberal economic model and foreign investment in the country.
  • (14) But proceedings quickly descended into farce, with the defendants' legal team chanting "the people demand the return of the president" and flashing a four-fingered "Rabaa" salute that has become a calling-card for Morsi supporters.
  • (15) We choose not to participate in this farce,” said the senate minority leader, Dan Blue of Raleigh.
  • (16) Click here for the Magic in the Moonlight trailer Compared with the gloomy ruminations on ageing and aspiration that characterised the well-received Blue Jasmine, which won Cate Blanchett an Oscar , this is Allen going back to the knockabout farce and blithe May-December couplings that populate his lighter films.
  • (17) The Farc have said they are willing to put down their arms but not hand them over to the state.
  • (18) You can only do that for so long until trust is worn down and it becomes a farce.” Tyler warned that Trump is in for a rough ride if Comey views this as a moment of reckoning.
  • (19) Three: an agreement by the Farc to cease cocaine production to fund its war.
  • (20) This point in and of itself completely explains why data retention is an absolute farce, and is in no way a deterrent to terrorism.